Teenage Dream
by StreetlightsAndRaindrops
Summary: The nations have decided that it's about time they got to know the youth of this time, and get to know the generation of next leaders. They've sent all the young appearing nations to a school in the UK to integrate with the students and get to know them. During this time, relationships form and the nations find for themselves what being a teenager is really like. HongIce shipping
1. Beginnings

**Another story! Yes, I know I should be updating the ones I have, but this is based on a really good RP I do with a good friend of mine, and I really, really needed to write it out! I hope you don't mind too much!**

It was far too early in Emil's opinion, and far too English for his tastes, but he didn't really have much of a say on this, so there wasn't much point in complaining. Now he was stuck in this school in England, expected to get to know the youth of this generation and report back in a meeting.

There were several faults he saw in this plan, one being that he wasn't exactly a social butterfly and generally didn't enjoy the company of strangers, and the other that he didn't come across as particularly approachable, which meant that he wouldn't really get much of a chance to really get to know anyone.

He was sat beside the window in a uniform the school forced upon all its students, frowning. He looked outside, noting how the weather was similar to back at his home, cold and rainy. The teacher was talking about something to do with how in this new school year would be important to the rest of their lives, but Emil chose not to listen because it didn't really apply to him.

About twenty minutes into the lesson the door opened, and the Icelandic boy looked up for a moment before looking back at his book again, looking up again, a split second later realizing he knew the boy who walked into class. It was Hong Kong. He was sure of it. He had the same haircut and expression, but was wearing the same uniform as him.

"Sorry I'm late, sir." He said, not sounding sorry at all. By the looks of it, he'd probably gone to Starbucks before turning up, as he had one of the card cups in his hand that was letting of a constant stream of steam. Leon took a moment to look around and locate a seat. The only one left was by Emil. He, unlike the Icelander, knew they'd be in class together, and knew who else was attending the school at that precise moment.

He sat beside Emil, not acknowledging him much, as the point of them being there was to be incognito, and not draw attention to themselves; so they had to act like they'd never met, as they were technically transfer students from Iceland and Hong Kong. Taking out his books and pencil case, Leon started taking notes of what the teacher was saying.

It took him a moment to realize that his English was lacking since last time he had needed to use it, as he'd been away from England for a long while now, and even when he was in England's house although Arthur would say he was fluent, and he would nod, going along with it, Leon's English was only mediocre at best, in his opinion. Words with more than two syllables often tripped him up, and he found it hard to understand when people spoke too quickly or mumbled. In his opinion Chinese was so much better.

Leon looked at his book and noticed that what he'd been writing didn't make much sense. He'd left out words that he'd not caught, and put characters where he couldn't remember spellings. Usually he would use his phone to correct his English, but the school seemed to have some kind of anti-phone policy, so he was left to flounder in his inability to take good notes.

Despite the school work being just to fit in to the human society, Leon knew Yao would be more than a little annoyed at him if his work was not up to standard, so he knew he was going to have to work on it. Leon reasoned that after he'd spent some time in the country, he'd pick up the language again, after all he was 'fluent' only a few years ago.

Emil looked over at Leon's book, wondering what notes he was supposed to have been taking, as he'd just been doodling, and saw the Asian's notes. He squinted at it questioningly, wondering what half of it meant, as there were many bad spellings and occasional Chinese characters thrown in, as if it was supposed to make sense "You need some help with that?" he whispered to Leon, assuming he was struggling.

"No, I'm fine, English needs correcting..." Leon replied, looking distracted. Emil gave him a questioning look, before shaking his head and looking back at his own book. He pondered briefly whether Leon meant that _his_ English needed correcting, or that the English language itself needed correcting. He didn't ask, instead looking at the teacher and attempting to get some use out of the lesson.

The teacher was now speaking about poetry, and the difference between similes and metaphors, which didn't really spark much of a response in the class, who all seemed bored of the topic; it reminded Emil of a world meeting, except even less relevant to him.

The lesson went past slowly, as did the next one, which happened to be history, and despite the fact it should have been interesting, it wasn't. Perhaps it was because he'd lived in that time, or because he already heard a lot about everyone's history on a regular basis. Leon looked equally bored, but continued to take his notes, hoping desperately to be able to translate them correctly when he got home.

After half a day's worth of lessons, it was finally Lunch break, and Leon decided to follow Emil, having nothing better to do with his time, and to be fair, the Icelander was pretty cute. As he did, he was sure he could feel someone's eyes on him, then remembered Mei was at this school as well and was probably watching him to see him make an idiot of himself or something. Leon thought to himself that she'd have more luck watching one of her siblings humiliate themselves if she were to watch Yong, but he assumed it must have been because the novelty would have worn off.

Leon sat beside Emil, who'd sat in a secluded grassy area with a tree, away from most of the school "Did you want something?" he asked, looking up at Leon questioningly.

"No." the Asian replied, sitting beside him and getting out the lunch box Kiku had insisted on packing for him. To his non-surprise, he had been given a selection of tasty looking sushi. He internally thanked Kiku for a nice lunch. Glancing over at Emil, he saw that the other's lunch mostly consisted of liquorice cables and a jam sandwich.

"So…" Emil began, hoping to illicit some kind of conversation and get some answers "What are you here for?" he was hoping Leon was here for the same reason he was, but perhaps he wasn't, so it was probably a good idea to ask, not only that, but he wasn't entirely certain on what he was meant to be doing anyway, something to do with getting to know the students, but in his opinion, they weren't really worth all that much of his time.

"Yao said it was to inter-interga… mix with the youth." Leon replied, slightly irritated with his English.

"Integrate?" Emil offered.

"Yeah, that one, and we look about the right age." he continued before popping some more of his lunch into his mouth. Emil nodded, finishing his sandwich. A couple of crumbs stuck to the corners of his mouth that he quickly swiped away with the back of his hand.

"You're not going to blend in with that English, you know…" Emil commented, opening his bag of liquorice and taking a bite out of one of the cables.

"It's been a while…" Leon said truthfully "and Chinese is better anyway…"

"You want help?"

"With Chinese, I don-"

"No, with English… stupid."

"Oh… do you teach?"

"Technically no, but I could help you with words you don't understand or something, I guess…" Emil realized that he knew very little about how to teach another language, and chances were he probably wouldn't be of much use.

"Maybe you help with my notes?" Leon suggested, looking at Emil, in hie eyes, fascinated by the colour and how the colour was made up of many other colours that all seemed to blend at a distance to become the purplish blue they were.

"Sure, you want to come over to mine after school?" Emil asked, thinking it could be a good place to go through his notes "Or Starbucks?" he suggested, remembering the cup of coffee that had been on the desk, filling the classroom with it's rich scent.

"Yao wants me home… you come to my house." Leon said, not realizing he'd said it as more of a command than a request or suggestion.

"Uh… sure. I'll just text Lukas." Emil got his phone out and typed out a message to Lukas

'Going to a friend's house, will be home late.'

Leon got his phone out and called Yao; he would have texted him, but he didn't like the western style phone he was given, because his wouldn't pick up signal in the UK for some reason. Had Emil known Chinese, he would've been able to understand what Leon was saying. Translated, it would have sounded something like "Hey Yao… No I'm not in trouble… No I don't need you to pick me up early… I… can…" he rolled his eyes as Yao launched into a lecture about school again "No… Can Iceland come over after school?... No… I know… I won't… I will… okay… okay…. okay… yes...yes… I will… okay...bye." he shut the phone, ending the call.

Leon looked at Emil who had been watching him on the phone with curiosity at the foreign language and what he'd been saying. Their held gaze was broken when Emil's phone vibrated in his pocket again. Both of their eyes were diverted to the Islander's trouser pocket. He pulled the phone out, only fumbling slightly and looked down at the phone, reading the message.

'Okay, but be home before 8:00PM or you'll be in trouble,

big brother xxx'

Emil rolled his eyes at the fact that not only had Lukas signed the text off, despite being the recipient of the first text, but to sign it off like that. He was tempted to text back that he wasn't going to call Lukas 'big brother' but he felt it could prove to be counterproductive and wouldn't help him "Yeah, it's cool." he said, still feeling slightly peeved at his brother, but trying to be mature and not let it show.

"Good." Leon said simply, finishing his lunch off and closing the box Kiku had given him.

"Want one?" Emil said, offering a cable of liquorice to Leon. He was hoping Leon would decline, because he didn't really want to give it away, but he felt like it would only be polite.

"Sure." He said, wanting also to be polite, but not really thinking, just trying to count all the colours that made up Emil's eyes, as there were so many. He blinked for a moment when Emil passed him a cable, forgetting for a moment that he'd just asked for one. Leon took a bite, discovering that he wasn't actually all that fond of the flavour, but he ate it all to be polite, and not insult Emil who seemed to be enjoying the cables very much, by the rate he was eating them at, and the attention he paid the sweet.

Leon wasn't sure what to do now. He'd been invited to visit Emil's home, and given food, and help for English, not only that but he'd agreed to come over later on that day. It took him a few moments to process whether Emil was hinting at anything or not. Considering he'd already taken a liking to the white haired boy, who had such colourful eyes and looked so disinterested in the world, Leon was probably bias when he came to his decision.

"Did you want to make out?" Leon asked.

"I-I'm sorry, what!?" Emil exclaimed, not sure he could quite believe his ears, his face turning a light shade of pink.

"Sorry, was my English wrong?"

"N-no! I don't think so; you were talking abou-"

"Kissing, yes." Leon interrupted, making Emil's face darken to a much fuller pink "I'm sorry, I got the signals wrong, didn't I." he said, not sounding particularly sorry at all.

"S-so you should be!" he said, not knowing where to look "I hardly even know you!"

"I am the Special Admin-Adminis- fuck… I can do this… Ad-min-is-tra-tive region of Hong Kong." he began, earning a questioning look from Emil "I'm here on business; I'm staying with Yao, Kiku, Mei and Yong. Macau is back at our home in Yao's home, keeping the house nice. Lien is… just not getting involved… Anyway, I like fest-ivals, and fireworks, and when I lived in Arthur's house, I used to annoy him with them." Leon said, hoping that would mean something "What about you?" he asked, wanting to know more about Emil.

"Well, I'm the Republic of Iceland; I'm also here on business, and uh… I'm staying with Lukas, Mathias, Tino, Berwald and Peter. I like volcanoes and I left at home because he annoys me." Emil said, not entirely sure about what he should have been saying, but thinking that what he said, didn't sound too bad.

"Hm… I have a Panda, but I left her at home, because customs didn't let me bring him… Macau is looking after him..." he said, wondering what else he should say.

"I see…"

"It is very loud in my house… which is not always a good thing… People always come in my room and want to talk to me when I'm on tumblr…" Emil's ears caught onto the last part of what Leon had said.

"You have tumblr?" he asked, amazed that he wasn't the only nation with an account.

"Yes." he said, wondering what blogs Emil followed and if they shipped any of the same ships as each other "Did you want to make out _now?_" Leon asked, wondering if that was enough, and that Emil was actually interested, and he wasn't just floundering in the English language for no reason.

"Uh… I… isn't this a little fast?" he said, wanting to kiss him, but feeling like perhaps it was a little early for such things "Are we even dating?"

"Do you want us to be dating?" he said, hoping the answer would be positive.

"Well…" Emil began, his face blushing again, and even his ears turning a little bit pink "Maybe… "

"Maybe?"

"Possibly…"

"Possibly?"

"Kind of…."

"Kind of?"

"... Yeah…"

"Awesome." Leon said, a genuine smile on his face. He didn't smile much at all, even if he was happy, but there was something about Emil's face that made him always want to smile. Emil's face was beetroot red by this point, but he smiled a little too.

Not particularly far away from this scene, Mei and Lili were hidden behind a bush, watching the two of them together "Oh my gosh… I've not seen him smile like that in… I don't know how long." Mei whispered to Lili who was crouched next to her.

"Wow… he looks really happy, then… I know someone like that too." Lili, said with a little, smile, kneeling beside Mei, and finding herself admiring how pretty her long dark hair was, and how pretty she was.

"Yeah… I wonder what Yao would think about this…"

"Oh no, you're not telling him, are you?"

"No, of course not, I'm just wondering."

Meanwhile, Leon and Emil were just smiling, looking eachother in the eye "125… no 127" Leon said thoughtfully.

"Huh?"

"127 colours in your eyes." Leon said, tilting his head to the side a little, as if checking from another angle that he was correct. He moved his head closer, so their noses were touching, looking into Emil's eyes, admiring them. From a distance they were like jewels, but up close, he could see all the lines and the details.

Emil took a breath, and closed his eyes, closing the gap between them, and making their lips meet. He wasn't sure of what to do, and he was hoping Leon would have more of an idea as to what to do from this point.

Leon was taken slightly aback for a moment, though he didn't let it show. He closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss a little, trying to guide Emil better. The only kissing experience Leon had was when he was too drunk to think and someone kissed him at a festival, which was entirely different to this.

Fireworks were going off in his head, and his heart was racing madly in his chest. He couldn't believe it. He moved a hand to the nape of Emil's neck, his fingers threading through his white hair, being careful at the same time not to make the kiss too deep too fast, not wanting to make Emil freak out or back out of the kiss.

Emil's face was burning red, even his ears were beetroot red. He allowed Leon to lead the kiss as he seemed to have more of an idea of what to do than he did. He just went with what Leon did, knowing it was probably inadequate, though the Asian didn't seem to mind at all, placing his other hand on his waist. Emil just kept his hands on the grass to lean on, as Leon leaned into him as they kissed, pressing himself against Emil.

Leon broke the kiss after a moment and took a deep breath, his face ever so slightly flushed "So, we're dating now?"

"Yeah… I think so…"

"I think we need to practice that…" Leon said, thinking that Emil could probably kiss much better once he learned how to better.

"I'll teach you English, and then we can… maybe." Emil said, adding the 'maybe' because he didn't want to sound too desperate, or pushy.

"Maybe?"

"Probably..."

"Probably?"

"Yeah…"

"Awesome."

It was at that moment when Mei decided to step in and do something. She stood up from the bush and marched over to the two boys "Hello, Mei." Leon greeted her in Chinese, as he prefered it "Tell Lili to come out too." he added slightly loudly in English, having worked out that they were present, but not caring all that much, as it mattered very little to them about who he was kissing

"You're psychic!" Lili stood up, giggling.

"How did you know we were there!?" Mei exclaimed, having thought for a while about that hiding place.

"Because I can just tell." he replied, reverting into Chinese. Emil just sat beside him, vaguely recognising Mei, and knowing Lili briefly from European meetings. Mei huffed, puffing her cheeks a little.

"You're so annoying, little brother!"

"I regret nothing."

"Yeah… well… I hope you choke on sushi!" he said, storming off, Lili trailing behind her.

"The joke's on her; I finished my sushi." Leon said, matter-of-factly. Emil nodded, not sure where that comment came from, because they'd been arguing in Chinese. He decided it would be better not to ask.

The bell went to show it was the end of lunch break, so the two of them stood up and filed back into the school with the rest of the students, for their next lessons.

**Okay, that's the end of this chapter! I hope you liked it! If you like this story, please give me a review, so that I know what you think!**

**Question time! **

**1. How will Yao react to them being together?**

**2. Will they actually get any work they need to do done?**

**3. What will happen when they have to go back to their own countries?**

**4. Will Leon ever master the English language?**

**5. Did this fanfiction originate in Korea?**

******I'm really sorry about how few updates there have been, but there's been a lot going on as of recent, and I've only really just gotten back into writing. If you want to know more, I make journal posts here diary , but you don't have to look if you don't want ^_^; it's just an explaination as to why I've not been updating frequently.**


	2. After school

**Yes! This is chapter two! I**** will be continuing this story! There will be a lot of side plots to follow as well as the initial HongIce ship, and there will be a lot of drama in the coming chapters when I actually get around to writing them. *is casually writing this from the sixth from common room during a free period =u=***

At the end of the school day, both Emil and Leon were equally exhausted, and ad silently agreed to visit the local Starbucks. Glancing at Leon a few times, Emil felt the urge to hold his hand, but at the same time didn't want to seem too interested, so just kept his hands at his sides, swinging availably. As they continued to walk, their footsteps in time, Leon took Emil's hand in his own, having noticed that it had been left by his side, and surely it would be fair to hold his hand if they were kind-of-dating.

Emil blushed deeply, cursing the colour of his cheeks silently, for having become so red, just because Leon was holding his hand. As they were holding hands, the two of them could notice things a little easier. Leon could tell he was making Emil blush, just by the way his hands seemed to warm up in his own, and the way they felt just a little sweaty. Emil noticed the firmness of Leon's grip on his hand, and how smooth his skin was, which lead to him wondering what his lips were like to kiss, which made him blush deeper, cursing the colour red.

As they arrived in the Starbucks, Leon muttered something along the lines of "Jeez, I'm like… too tired for this…" in Chinese, as he didn't really feel like he wanted to converse with the barista. He knew he'd be fine once he had his coffee though.

Noticing the people, watching them holding hands like that, Emil kept his eyes off of all the people in the coffee shop, not wanting to draw more attention to himself. He looked at the menu behind the bar and decided what he was going to have before walking up to the barista and ordering "One mocha cookie crumble Frappuccino, with whipped cream, please." He said, ordering the iced drink that always looked so majestic.

The English language still not coming naturally to him as it once had, he ordered it a few times anyway "One filter." He said simply, shaking his head when they asked if he wanted milk. Coffee was better without any additions in his opinion, which apparently Emil disagrees with, as Leon saw his order.

Taking a deep breath of coffee smell, Leon brought his cup under his nose, inhaling the scent.

"Let's go?" Emil said, holding his very majestic looking Frappuccino in his left hand, leaving his right to be taken by the other. Leon took Emil's hand and walked out of the coffee shop. His other hand being warmed by his fresh coffee.

Noticing Emil taking occasional sips from his drink, Leon absentmindedly took a sip of his piping hot coffee. That was a mistake. His mouth felt like it was on fire; it was like drinking fire. He coughed and sputtered for a moment, drawing a few concerned glances from passers-by, and for Emil to stop walking and become concerned "Are you okay?" he asked, not really knowing what else to say.

"F-fine!" he said, his voice just a little hoarse "The coffee was hot…" he said, righting himself and clearing his throat a little, trying not to make it seem like a big deal. He started walking again, as if nothing happened, occasionally coughing quietly to himself; whenever he did, Emil would shoot him a concerned glance and sip his drink.

Leon continued walking his face heating up just a little, unintentionally. Emil noticed that Leon's hand had heated up a little, and his face seemed a shade pinker than before, making him smirk just a little to himself, hiding it in sipping his Frappuccino.

After a half an hour of walking, they arrived at a narrow, yet tall terraced house. This type of housing was very popular in England apparently, and the lack of space was so that people working would not have to travel far from work, so therefore, space conserving houses were good.

Opening the door, Leon called into the house "I'm home!" in Chinese, before taking his shoes off and walking to his room.

Downstairs was the living room, and the kitchen, and the dining room, that was connected with the living room. There was a small hall downstairs with a staircase that lead to the first storey which was home to Yao, Kiku and Yong's rooms, and a small bathroom. Going up another flight of stairs brought the pair to the largest rooms, but also the furthest rooms, Leon's room, and Mei's room.

Leon's room was one of the largest in the house, but he'd only been able to get it by taking a chance when they'd gotten to the house, and running all the way up the stairs to claim the top room. Mei had had the same idea, but there were two top rooms, so there was little commotion.

They walked in and despite it being a little messy, with empty instant ramen pots and cups that were either filled with tea or coffee at some point, it was relatively tidy. Yesterday's clothes were on the floor, but hastily kicked under the bed as Emil walked in "So you want me to help you with your work?"

"Yes, English needs correcting."

"_Your _English needs correcting."

"That's what I said." Leon said, flopping onto his bed, opening his book and looking at Emil expectantly, who rolled his eyes and sat beside Leon.

"Okay… What on earth is that?"

"I didn't know the English word…"

"Didn't you grow up in his house? And… you're meant to be fluent, aren't you?"

"He is… not as good a teacher as you may think… and it's been a while, and I'm better at talking."

"Okay, well, what were you trying to say here?"

Leon paused for a minute, trying to read the words for some kind of reference "I'm… not sure…"

"Do you want to see my book?" Emil said with an exasperated sigh.

Leon nodded, hoping it would give him a few hints.

The problem was that Western languages did not come easily to Leon, especially as Arthur, although a lover of the English language, was a terrible teacher, and he learnt more from just things that people said. He could recognise words if written, but he could never remember how to write them himself, and the phonetics of the language confused him still.

Looking at Emil's book, he could recognise a fair few words that were written on the page and vaguely knew what the lesson was about "Can I just copy from your book?"

"No! That's cheating! I'll help you make your notes, like if you tell me what you want to write, and I'll give you spellings if you need them, but there's no way I'm letting you copy my work."

"Okay." After that, the two of them began the arduous process of writing up the day's work.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Yao was sat on the sofa, talking to Kiku "I don't like this, and I want you to know that." He said in Chinese, knowing Kiku understood it.

"I don't like it either. He's meant to make human friends… and that was Iceland, am I right?"

"Yes it was." Yao said testily "I don't like it. He's too young, and he needs to concentrate on his job. He's not going to make friends if he just hangs around with him…"

"You don't think they could be… y'know…"

"No, of course not! They have nothing in common, and they've only just met."

"Leon's never had a girlfriend…"

"He's never had a boyfriend either!"

"True… but… I think it's strange that he's bringing him home the day they met…"

"He's just being friendly…"

"Maybe…"

"We should check on them." Yao said, an idea coming into his head.

"Is that a good idea?" Kiku said, really not wanting to walk in on anything awkward.

"Fine, you stay here, and I'll go see what they're doing." Yao said, standing up and walking out of the room. After walking up the second flight of stairs, he burst into the room, making Emil, who had been telling Leon the spelling for the word 'interpretation' after Leon had attempted to say it several times and failed, meaning Emil had to spend a few minutes trying to guess what he meant.

"Hello, Yao, is there like something you wanted?" Leon asked, not shocked by Yao's dramatic entrance, unlike Emil who felt like he was recovering from a heart attack.

"I just… wanted to know if either of you wanted any snacks." He said, trying to sound casual.

Leon turned to Emil and asked him in English if he wanted any snacks, seeing as the conversation between himself and Yao had been in Chinese, and Emil would be lost.

"I'm fine… thanks…" Emil said slowly, his heart still pounding in his chest.

"He's fine, and I… do we have any dumplings?"

"No."

"I'm fine then."

Yao nodded and walked out of the room, feeling awkward and making his way downstairs.

"He gave me a heart attack…" Emil said, looking at Leon for some kind of apology or something of that meaning.

"He likes to be dramatic. It's in his nature." Leon said, as more of a statement than an apology. It would be very out of character for him to actually say 'sorry' to someone.

"Right…" Emil said "You want that spelling now?"

"Yes." The two of them continued to work on the notes for another hour, before it was finished.

"Well, that took long enough…"

"Do you want to make out now?" Leon asked casually.

"Uh-I yeah, sure… I guess." Emil said, almost spluttering.

"Okay." Leon turned to sit facing him, but was comfortable letting Emil make the first move, because she didn't want to seem too forward and having little experience with kissing. Emil was also going through a similar mind process, sat facing Leon, but not wanting to initiate anything in case he did something wrong.

"So…" Emil said, leaning slightly closer, and Leon reciprocating and bringing his face closer to Emil's. After a moment, they brought their faces closer to each other again, and their lips met gently. Neither of them had much experience, but it wasn't terrible.

The first kiss was short and sweet, but they continued, deepening each kiss, tilting their heads to fit better, and opening their mouths so not to bash their teeth together.

As he was kissing Emil, eyes closed, Leon wondered what he was supposed to do with his hands. Was he allowed to touch Emil? Would it be too much? Would a hand on the waist suffice? He wasn't sure, but he decided he couldn't go far wrong if he placed his hands on the other's waist.

Emil's eyes flickered open for a second when he felt Leon's hands, but he closed them again when he saw that Leon's were still closed. He'd been letting Leon lead the kiss, as he'd not been sure what to do, and the best thing seemed to be just to reciprocate how Leon was kissing, and learn from that.

Downstairs, Kiku was still uneasy "How long does it take to study? I… we should check on them again."

"It'll look weird if we check on them again; why don't you go? They're probably just playing on the Nintendo…" Yao said, getting a little tired of Kiku's worrying.

"But…" Kiku couldn't think of anything to say, so just stayed quiet.

"Why don't _you _go and check on them, if you're so worried?" Yao said, poking him to get up "Because you're not going to stop worrying about this until you see for yourself that they're just studying.

Kiku sighed and stood up, walking out of the room. He walked quietly up the stairs, not wanting to disturb them, and just wanting to see that they were doing as they said they were doing; it was not unlike Yao to bend the truth to fit what he preferred.

Upon getting to the top floor hallway, he peaked through the keyhole, not wanting to get involved. He gasped, seeing them and his face lit up bright red. He knew there was something happening. He looked again, out of morbid fascination of the scene, feeling embarrassed for doing so, but that not stopping him. They were definitely kissing. Not just a peck on the cheek either! They were making out! How could they be doing that so early on! How?

Kiku stood up and walked back downstairs quickly, his face bright red in a mix of embarrassment and surprise. He sat down on the sofa, beside Yao, not looking at him as he said "That was not studying…"

Yao did a double take, at what he heard "What do you mean by 'not studying'!?" he exclaimed heatedly, gaping at Kiku, noticing the colouring of his face, and the uncomfortable expression.

"They were k-kissing!" Kiku managed to say, his face darkening further into a flurry of embarrassment.

"What, you walked in and they were just kissing?" Yao asked, trying to understand.

"N-no! I didn't want to walk in in case I made a scene, so I looked through the keyhole!" he exclaimed "Stop asking; I'm very uncomfortable!"

Yao rolled his eyes and looked at him "What do we do now?"

"I-I how am I supposed to know!?"

"I don't know, but… I didn't even know he was gay…"

"Wasn't it obvious?"

"No! I thought he would be straight like Yong!" Yao argued "He didn't do anything to make me think he was gay… until now! But that's beside the point." He said, trying to figure out what to do "Oh god…"

"What?"

"I'm… going to have to give him 'the talk…' and tell him about…" Yao said despairingly, his emotions switching quickly when he realized he was going to have to do something which made him more than just a little uncomfortable. "Oh god… What if Mei starts kissing boys too? And What about Yong… actually I think he's fine…" Yao added, noting that generally he frightened girls off with his personality and habits.

"We shouldn't get caught up in that; Mei is a smart girl."

"You're right, we need to focus on the matter at hand. Leon… and why he's kissing that foreign boy." Yao said, finally. And the two of them started to formulate plans as to what to do about this whole situation they had managed to get themselves into.

Upstairs, things had escalated just a little. Thinking it more comfortable, and it was, Emil had leaned back into Leon's pillows, pulling Leon with him. Leon was straddling his lap, pressed against him, and kissing him. He broke the kiss for a moment "So, did you want me to be your boyfriend now?" he asked, looking into Emil's eyes that always seemed so interesting to him.

"Yeah, sure…" Emil said, breathily, before pulling Leon into another kiss. They were both getting used to it quickly, and were definitely improving.

Leon ran his tongue along the underside of Emil's top lip, hoping for a response of some sort. Emil opened his mouth guessing what Leon wanted, letting the other's tongue in. It was all so new, and yet it felt natural like this. Leon prodded Emil's with his own, playfully retreating his tongue into his own mouth after, like a game. Emil responded, thrusting his tongue into Leon's mouth and poking his tongue back. This seemed to begin a wrestling match, between the two of them. It lasted a few moments before Emil had to breathe, and broke the kiss breathlessly.

Both of their lips were rouged from the kissing and they took a moment to get their breath back. Leon took this as a good moment to comment on the kissing "You're definitely getting better." He said. He wasn't going to add that Emil tasted like sweets and liquorice, as he thought he would probably get slapped for that.

"Yeah?" Emil asked, glad he was improving. Leon tasted like coffee and fish to him, but it wasn't unpleasant, and he liked both things, so it wasn't something he found off putting.

"Yeah…" Leon said, kissing Emil again. He started out with small kisses, slowly going in for a few deeper ones.

Suddenly the door opened with a loud BANG that Emil was sure he could feel in his ribs. He broke the kiss in shock as he saw Yao at the door with a formidable glare, staring at Leon and himself "Leon! What are you doing!?" he shouted at Leon, in horror, and Chinese

"I'm kissing him." Leon said sitting up, still sat across the Icelander's lap.

"Why!?" he cried out, in exasperation and despair that his little boy was growing up.

"Because he needed practice, and he's cute. It's a fifty/ fifty." He said looking at Yao, his face free from anything that could even resemble remorse.

"But… when did you meet him!?"

"Probably in a wo-"

"You know what I mean, did you only start talking today!?"

"I think so, why?"

Yao made a sound of frustration and anger "Right… and is that a suitable time span to kiss someone in?"

"I don't know, probably." He said, shrugging, looking completely unbothered by Yao's lecture. Not that he really registered much emotion on his face at all. He smiled sometimes, but apart from that most things he conveyed with body language, or didn't convey at all.

Watching the argument, or discussion, Emil, as well as feeling very uncomfortable, and unable to sit up, was watching their expressions to try to figure out what was going on. Yao's face showed anger… or shock, exasperation, concern, and a thoughtfulness. Leon's… he looked. He had the straight face he always had. His voice seemed unchanged to how it was usually. Emil just assumed it would take a lot for something to actually shake him, or put expression on his face.

Yao made a noise of indignation "Fine." He said, about to walk out before turning to say "Ask your… friend if he's staying for dinner, and when he has to be home by."

"Emil," Leon said, looking down at the white haired nation "You want to stay for dinner?"

"Sure… no-one will have made me anything at home." Emil assumed, as he always insisted on making his own dinner, in an attempt to seem more grown-up.

"Okay, and what time do you need to be home at?"

"About 8PM I think…" Emil said, slightly unsurely.

"Okay." Leon turned to look at Yao again, easily interchanging languages "He says he will stay for dinner, and he needs to be home for 8PM."

"Okay." Leon turned to look at Yao again, easily interchanging languages "He says he will stay for dinner, and he needs to be home for 8PM." Leon said, waiting for the man at the door to do something.

After a moment, Leon noticed that Kiku was behind Yao, looking very flustered and like he didn't want to be there. After a moment of consideration, the two at the door walked away and went back downstairs, and from what Leon and Emil could hear, they were having a heated discussion about something.

"So, you want to keep going?" Leon asked, looking down at Emil, lying there awkwardly, not having understood any of the dialogue between Leon and Yao, and feeling like he suffered from two heart attacks in one day.

"No, not really!" he said, sounding surprised "Aren't you even a little embarrassed!?" Emil asked, with a little anger in his voice, because of how insensitive Leon was being.

"No, why would I be?" Leon said, his face not changing.

"Because we were kissing! Jeez… is this all a game to you!? Does this mean nothing?" He asked, trying to get some kind of expression from him.

"I don't get why you're upset… I don't care if they see me kissing you. It's a great way to come out to them anyway." he said, keeping his voice level. Emil had no words "It won't happen again if you don't want it to. I'll get a lock if kissing in front of my family makes you uncomfortable." Leon said, noting how worked up Emil was getting.

"That would be good, yeah…" Emil said, not knowing where to go from there.

"You want to learn some Chinese?" Leon offered, seeing as Emil had helped him so much with his English.

"Sure… I don't know how good I'll be though…" Emil said, feeling like his accent was going to let him down yet again.

"Okay, I'll start with the basics." Leon said, and so they began going through basic Chinese, that come tomorrow, Emil would probably forget half of.

Downstairs, Kiku and Yao were making dinner together. They both liked times like this, where they felt so efficient in the kitchen, and it wasn't often that they made big dinners.

"Who's eating here tonight?" Kiku enquired, wondering how many they were cooking for.

"Mei is at a friend's house… Yong is… I think he… I don't recall, but he's not home, and that leaves Myself, You, Leon and his… friend." Yao said, counting off on his fingers.

It didn't take long to cook, as they both were working together, and it cut the time down, which was good as neither of them had any intentions of making the guest late home, and therefore dinner had to be cooked at a reasonable pace to make sure.

Once it was ready, Kiku set about laying it out on the table and Yao ran up the stairs, bursting into Leon's room for the third time that day. Yet again, Emil had near to a heart attack, and Leon seemed completely un-phased. Emil thought to himself that he must have been desensitised to it if it happened this frequently.

"Dinner is ready now." Yao declared before making his way back down the stairs again.

Leon stood up and walked to the door, waiting for Emil "coming?"

Emil jumped up from the bed quickly and walked with him down the stairs, snapped out of his last heart attack.

When they got to the table, Emil couldn't believe how good the food all looked. He wanted to try everything, but there was way too much stuff to do that, so he was going to have to make a decision as to what he wanted.

The others all made haste in filling their plates with an assortment of food. Yao often got into the habit of making too much food and saving it for other days, or throwing it away, though he did that less now, as everything seemed to have gone up in price.

Leon ate his food, occasionally glancing at Emil, who finally decided on some of the things he was going to eat, but was struggling with his chopsticks.

"Do you need so-"

"No, I'm fine… I'll get this…" he said, looking determined.

"I'm sure we've got a knife and fork somewh-"

"No," he said, cutting Leon off again "I will get this…"

Leon sighed, continuing to eat his food when Emil did something… unforgivable

He speared a piece of chicken with a chopstick.

Leon kept his head down, for once embarrassed. He didn't know whether to say anything, or not say anything. He could hear Yao muttering to himself, sounding less than pleased at Emil's behavior.

"Emil…" he said quietly.

"What?"

"Don't… stab food like that… it's really, really disrespectful…" he said, trying not to draw attention to himself and Emil, anymore than he already had.

"What like that Feng thingy? And it's like bad or some bullshit to put stuff in the wrong place or something?" Leon felt like turning to dust then and there.

"Feng… thingy…" he said quietly to himself, keeping his eyes down knowing Yao must have heard.

"Yeah…" Emil said, noticing the table's eyes on him and suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

Yao took the moment of silence to announce that he was going to check on dessert and left the room, looking like he was going to lose his composure if he didn't step out very soon. Kiku followed, saying he would help; just feeling too uncomfortable with the situation unfolding in the dining room.

"Emil… can you please not… say that again… ever…" Leon said, sounding very out of character and uncomfortable. It seemed as if you could do anything but insult his culture… which seemed very odd, but then again Emil would be very offended if someone were to insult his culture, or call him Norwegian.

"Uh… sure…" Emil said, trying to get using the chopsticks to work but failing.

"Am I going to have to feed you?" Leon said, rolling his eyes.

"No… it's uh… fine…" Emil said, noticing the sudden change of mood and trying to use them.

"Okay…" Leon continued to eat, an uncomfortable silence growing between them.

"Can I… have a fork?" Emil asked finally, after over ten minutes of struggling and finally giving up.

"Yes." Leon stood up and fetched a knife and fork from a draw in the kitchen, ignoring the looks from Kiku and Yao who were not checking the dessert at all, but talking heatedly to each other.

Leon sat himself back down, passing the knife and fork to Emil, who gladly took them and started eating.

What struck Emil as odd was the fact that Leon seemed so relaxed all the time, like nothing bothered him, and like you could punch him in the face and he'd just tell you you were punching wrong, and that his nose was only a little broken. Yet, the second his culture was offended, it was how a regular person would react if you stole all their money while they were sleeping and killed your mother.

Priorities…

Yao and Kiku eventually came back in, at about the time Emil finished his main course, and so used the excuse of the fact that they needed to clear the table for dessert to disappear into the kitchen again; no doubt to gossip about what Emil was doing, and how it seemed to have an effect on Leon.

After the meal, Leon and Emil were excused and both of them retreated back into Leon's room. Flopping onto the bed, face first, Leon just lay there for a moment, before he rolled over "For future reference, Emil, Feng Shui is part of my religion, and stabbing food with chopsticks is disrespect to not only the chef, but also our ancestors."

Emil felt like someone had just stabbed him in the chest "Oh." was all he could say, quietly "I… didn't know… I'm really sorry…" Emil said, not knowing how to feel about this.

"It's fine…" Leon said, sitting up and holding his arms out "You didn't mean anything by it, and you look really sad… and I don't like it, come here."

Emil obliged and sat beside Leon, getting pulled into a hug "Sorry…" he said again, feeling like he could say it over a hundred times and it still wouldn't be enough.

"So long as you are." Leon said, leaning against him and laying half on top of him, in a hug.

After a few moments of staying there in silence Emil finally piped up "I didn't get you as a hugger…"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, I'm just saying…"

"Okay…"

The two of them stayed like that, and when Emil could hear quiet snores from Leon, he decided to let himself sleep as well.

**And so concludes this next chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Yes I will be updating my other fics when I have time, I just had a really creative bout and needed to write some HongIce.**

**Question time!**

**1. How did no-one notice Leon was gay until this point?**

**2. Will Yao ever forgive Emil for being so insulting?**

**3. Will Yong ever get a girlfriend?**

**4. What will they do, so they can actually report back in a meeting?**

**5. Will Mei end up kissing boys?**

**6. Will Kiku ever get over the fact that real life relationships happen outside of doujinshis, and one day he will have to partake in one?**

**Reviews are love! If you feel like answering my silly questions, go ahead! I will update faster if I get reviews… because I'll feel like I have people waiting on me… instead of people not caring… but yeah… It always makes my day whenever I get a review, and I will always respond when I can! Even if you just say 'cool story bro...'**


	3. Routines

**I want to focus on this story a little while longer, before I update my others, just because I need some time to gather my ideas for them, though I pretty much know, I just have better plans for this story at the moment!**

A few hours passed as the two of them slept, snuggling close to each other peacefully; Leon letting out small snores, nuzzling his face into Emil's neck.

"It's getting late; perhaps we should remind Emil that he needs to be home soon?" Kiku suggested.

"Hm you're right; let's go up." Yao nodded, agreeing with him and standing up and starting to walk up the stairs, with Kiku in tow.

"What if they're… you know…" he said, blushing and looking at the floor.

"I'll knock before we go in." he said assertively, reaching Leon's door and knocking loudly "Leon, you're friend needs to go home!" he called through the door. After receiving no response, he cracked the door open a little, to see why he didn't reply.

Peering through the door, he saw one of the most adorable sights he'd ever seen. Emil and Leon sleeping soundly on the bed together, Leon sprawled over Emil, with his face nestled in the other's neck. Emil's hair was ruffled around the pillow, and his arms were wrapped around Leon's waist, holding him close.

"Cute…" he said quietly, walking in, leading Kiku in behind him.

"That… was unexpected…"

"You wake them up."

"Why me?"

"You have a more soothing wake up voice than I do."

"Uh…"

"Wake them up."

The Japanese man walked over to the bed quietly, gently shaking Leon's shoulder "Time to wake up, Emil has to go home now, Leon." He started. After he didn't get a response, He turned to Yao, giving him a look that said 'What do I do now?'

"I think he's still jet lagged…" Yao said, remembering that he had been the last to arrive in England, as he said he had country business to attend to before coming.

"Do I just wake the other then?" Kiku suggested, keeping his voice low.

"Yes."

"Okay." He walked to the other side of the bed, and gently shook Emil's shoulder "Emil, it's time to wake up now… You need to go home…"

"5 more minutes, Lukas…" Emil replied sleepily, before realizing he was not at home, and the person shaking him was not Lukas "I-I mean… okay… give me a minute…" He opened his eyes to see a Japanese face looking straight at him, and Yao standing across the room from him. It took him only a moment to turn bright red when he remembered that Leon was sleeping on him, and that he still was, and his family had just come in to wake them up.

Kiku nodded, drawing himself up to his usual height "Leon is very asleep, so maybe you should write a note for him…" he said, before turning around and walking out of the room with Yao.

Emil carefully slid out from beneath Leon, noticing he was definitely in a deep sleep, as he didn't stir at all as he was rolled onto the bed properly. Emil took a moment to correct his hair which was now sticking up at all angles, but he found his efforts to be fruitless, so he left it and carefully wrote Leon a note which read: 'Leon, you were sleeping when I had to go home; so yeah, I'll see you at school, Emil.'

He walked down to the door, where Yao stood to see him out "Come back soon, okay?" he said, being polite. Emil nodded sheepishly, keeping his head down and walking home.

As soon as the door closed, the Chinese man span around and marched all the way up the stairs to Leon's room, slamming the door open "LEON, WAKE UP YOU LAZY CHILD!" he yelled at the top of the voice, causing Leon to wake up with a jolt, flail for a moment, then fall of his bed.

"Good morning…" he said, looking up at Yao, his feet still having managed to stay on the bed.

"Emil went home, and if you want to sleep, you have to get ready for bed first. I also want to talk to you before you do go back to sleep." Yao could feel his face heating up already, as he knew what he was going to have to talk about.

"Can't I just sleep, and you tell me tomorrow or something?" he said, yawning and sitting up.

"No I can't! I have to tell you now."

"I only got here the day before yesterday… I'm still tired; can't this wait?" He pulled himself up to stand, his face level with Yao's.

"No. I'm talking to you now, or after you get ready for bed; you do realize it' only 19:45, don't you?"

"Jetlag…" he said, walking over to the bathroom and starting to brush his teeth. Yao nodded knowingly understanding that the journey from China to England was one that was not taken without knowing the jetlag yet to come. He himself had taken a week to get used to the time zone, but Leon had come later, due to 'country businesses'

"Your fault for leaving your work so late."

"I had no choice." He said, after spitting out his toothpaste.

"I didn't think there were any affairs to be taken care of at the moment?"

"Not for you…."

Yao rolled his eyes, wondering what on earth it could have been, but didn't question it any further. The two of them walked back to his room.

"I'm changing; leave." Leon said, picking up some pyjamas and shooing Yao out of the room.

"Fine, fine, I'm leaving." He said, walking out of the room huffily.

After a few moments, he opened the door "You wanted to talk, yes?"

"Yes, I wanted to talk." Yao began, not really knowing where he was going with this "Leon, I want to talk to you about sex." He said, taking a deep breath, because he could tell he was going to have a difficult time talking about this.

"What do you want to know?" Leon joked, smirking at Yao who was taken aback for a moment.

"I'm being serious! And if I'm right, you haven't been in a relationship before." Yao said, feeling the need to remind him of that "Unlike me, who has been in a relationship before."

"Not in a while."

"Sh-shut up! This isn't about me!" he exclaimed, his face heating up a little more.

"I think Kiku likes you; maybe you should try dating."

"I don't need your advice, and I'm not interested!"

"Don't tell me you're still not over Arthur…"

"I'm not telling you anything, stop changing the topic!"

"Because it's not ever going to work between the two of you."

"I know, now be quiet and listen. What do you know about sex already?" Yao said, already feeling uncomfortable, and hoping for some level of innocence to still be present.

"I've been around for a while, you know…." Leon said, yawning "I know how everything works."

"Right… And you know about protection?"

"Obviously."

"And about healthy relationships? Because I'm not sure you're meant to be kissing like that the day you meet; you can take your time."

"What's the point in taking time if we're both fine with it? I'm not going to force him into sex if that's what you're saying. I always ask."

"Oh like you actually have had sex before…"

"That's not the point. I asked him if I could kiss him."

"I'm glad." Yao said, not knowing how to feel about this "Don't you think it'll be difficult with the distance?"

"I can visit him; it's fine."

"If you say so." He said, glad he wouldn't have to explain anything else to him, and glad that he wasn't dating a girl, because he had a feeling that Leon would know much less about girls in that respect.

"Yes. Can I go to sleep now?"

"Sure…"

Yao walked out, closing the door after himself. He pursed his lips a little, not completely happy with how much he knew, but being around for almost 300 years, and being exposed to the media, would make him more aware, not to mention the fact that he'd had no control over the way Arthur had raised him.

Arthur… Yao shook his head. He was _not_ still interested. He did _not_ have any existing feelings for him. Not at all. He was completely and totally over him, or so he kept telling himself. He could get anyone he wanted, if he wanted to. He just liked being single. That was totally it. He wasn't interested. Of course not. Why on earth would he like that stupid Arthur? Arthur was rude, and stubborn, and had messy hair and an obsession with tea; he was a stay at home whose colonies left him and had no friends. Why on earth would he harbour feelings for such a man?

Yao huffed, pouring himself some tea and curling up with a book on the sofa. It was some soppy romance novel that he'd recently taken to for some reason. It wasn't like he thought Arthur's hair looked golden in the sunlight, or how they both enjoyed tea, and it wasn't like he enjoyed complaining with him, or lecturing him about things. He was so not interested. Not interested at all. So… not… interested…

The next morning, about ten minutes after the time Leon should have left for school, he was still in bed, snoring peacefully, catching up on his sleep.

"LEON, YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL, WAKE UP WAKE UP!" Yao shouted, slamming open the door. Leon jolted awake, but didn't fall off the bed this time. He was considering starting a tally for the number of times Yao slammed the door open like that. He sat up groggily swinging his legs off of the bed.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked, smoothing down his hair easily.

"Because you should be able to wake yourself up." Yao said testily. The truth was that he'd forgotten to wake Leon, until Yong had left for school, and he remembered.

"Okay…" he said, standing up and shooing Yao out "I have to like… get dressed…" he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and closing the door. He quickly picked yesterday's clothes from the floor and put them on, not bothering to find something fresh, because he'd have to fish through his wardrobe and that would just take time.

He jogged down the stairs "I'm going to school!" he called into the house, picking up his bag which had been laid out by the door, probably by Kiku, because he could see his packed lunch in there.

"Aren't you going to have breakfast?" Yao called from the kitchen.

"No time, I'll pick something up on the way!" he called back, leaving the house. God, he was tired. He walked quickly to the closest Starbucks, not noticing Emil for a moment, before nodding at him, the English language not coming to him yet.

The barista asked for his order, but it just sounded like she was making sounds out of her mouth. He really needed to wake up "One filter." He said simply, remembering. She said a couple of other things that sounded like questions, but he just stared at her, not sure what to say, before Emil stepped in.

It took him a moment to remember what Leon had ordered last time, so he just said "One filter coffee, no sugar, no milk. His name is Leon."

"Thanks." Leon said, in Chinese, hoping that Emil would remember some of what he had been taught the night before. Emil smiled slightly at him, realizing he really must've been exhausted. It was odd that he wasn't so tired the day before, but perhaps jetlag took a little while to kick in. He didn't really know, nor did he care.

The barista smiled politely and set to making him his order. Emil figured it would be pointless talking to Leon, as he had seemed so lost when the barista had spoken to him, so he just took his hand gently, smiling a little at him, hoping that would be enough to say 'good morning'

Leon smiled back, feeling a little stupid for his failure in the English language this morning, but he was jetlagged, and only woke up about ten minutes ago, and he hadn't even had something to eat yet, or had a cup of coffee.

That reminded him. He needed breakfast. He looked at the refrigerated section, and looked at all the bagels and buns, and Paninis, not being able to read the labels, but being able to guess the contents of them through the clear wrapping. He picked out something that looked fairly nice, though he wasn't entirely sure of the contents.

He paid for it, but didn't have it toasted, as he was in a hurry, picking up his coffee and walking out with Emil. They walked quickly and wordlessly to school, sipping their drinks and Leon eating his, what turned out to be meatball and tomato Panini quickly, as he was hungry.

As they arrived at the school, it was very obvious that they were late. There was no-one in the courtyard, or queuing up outside lesson.

Leon walked into the class, towards his seat, on the other side of the room to the door, with Emil in tow "Sorry we're late…" he said in Chinese, as he felt some kind of acknowledgement would be better than none.

"What did you just call me?" the teacher exclaimed, sounding insulted, though it was obvious he didn't understand what Leon just said. Leon ignored him and sat in his seat, sipping his coffee, Emil in tow, doing similar, and keeping his head down self-consciously "I said, what did you just call me?"

"He was apologising for our lateness, sir…" Emil said quietly, hoping he would drop it.

"We speak English in England, Leon. Remember that." The teacher said warningly, continuing the lesson.

Emil sighed; Leon needed to wake up, or he was going to get himself into a lot of trouble.

During the lesson, Leon didn't even bother with English notes. He wrote whatever he could understand down in Chinese, because it would be much easier to translate, hopefully. He also copied the diagrams down, but made assumptions as to the labels.

Emil leaned over, looking at the other's work "You're going to get in trouble if you keep making notes like that…"

"I'm tired. English is hard." He said simply, finally being able to string together some sentences. He would get better as the day went on, and as he spent more time in the country, he would remember more and more of what he was taught.

"So you want my help with it later?"

"Yeah."

A short while later, the teacher began handing out worksheets, and briefly reading people's notes making little comments such as 'Good work' 'Not enough here' 'Lots missing, see me at the end' and other things like that.

The teacher came over to them, passing them the sheets and casually glancing at their books "What is this?" He asked, picking up Leon's book, looking through the previous day's bad notes and that day's Chinese notes.

"My book, sir." He said, his expression unchanged.

"What is in the book?"

"My notes, sir."

"What lesson is this?"

"… English, sir."

"What is this language?" he said, pointing at the book.

"Chinese, sir."

"Do you think that's appropriate for the lesson?"

Leon glanced at Emil who said "Is that ok for an English lesson?"

"Oh… No… I'm not English today, sir."

"Pardon?"

"He's jetlagged, sir, and English isn't his first Language, I can help him trans-"

"I don't care. If he comes into my lesson, he has to be prepared to work in my lesson and do as he's told, and if I'm correct English is not your first language either, mister Steilson, and you do not seem to have any problem understanding what I'm saying."

"I've been in this country for longer, and Western languages are harder for those who grew up with Eastern ones, sir." Emil said, still trying to defend his friend somehow.

"Well then, obviously if he's struggling, he should be put into a better class to suit his ability, and/or take on extra-curricular lessons to catch up with his classmates."

Leon looked at Emil questioningly "He used long words…" he said quietly.

"Oh, basically, because your English is kind of crap, he's going to put you in a class of stupid people, or make you go to extra classes." Emil said, trying to make it more understandable.

Leon nodded, mostly understanding him, before turning to the teacher again "I will call my father, and have him talk to you, sir."

The teacher looked slightly taken aback "You _want_ me to talk to your parents?"

"Yes." He said, taking out his phone and calling Yao, who picked up quickly.

"Hello?"

"Hi, could you like, talk to my teacher, he's being a dick." He said, easily switching back to Chinese.

Before Yao had the chance to make some kind of reply, he was handed over to the teacher "Hello, mister Wang, is it?"

"Yes that's me, what do want?"

"Your son refuses to write in English in my lessons. Were you aware?"

"I was not…"

"Well, I'd like to tell you that it is unacceptable. Either get him help out of school, or we will take action and either put him in a lower class, and or give him extra tuition." He said, to Yao who was fuming over the phone. He couldn't believe that Leon, who was meant to have the second best education system in the world, and lived with Arthur for years was so bad at English. Then again he was very bad teacher, and Leon hadn't been very proactive in learning. He'd learned what he needed to get by and left it there.

"I understand; I promise you that I will have words with him about this."

"What language do you speak in the household, may I ask?"

"Chinese, why?"

"I was just curious."

"If you're telling me that we should be speaking English in our own house, I think you have another thing coming. We speak what we're comfortable with. If you move to China, you will not have to speak Chinese in your home."

"Th-that's not what I'm getting at."

"Good. I will see to it that his English improves. I was unaware of the problem."

"Okay."

"Anything else?"

"No, that will be all." The teacher said, handing Leon back his phone.

"So…?" Leon asked, noticing the call was still going.

"How does someone who spent half their life in England not know English!?" Yao exclaimed loudly; Leon cringed, holding the phone away from his face.

"I don't know… I do know it, but I'm tired, and he keeps using long words."

"How do you even get by in world meetings!?"

"Translation software."

"You little… I do not approve!"

"Would you like to put the phone away, mister Wang?" the teacher said, looking down at Leon.

"Kirkland, sir…" he said, switching back to English.

"Wasn't that your dad?"

"Yes."

"That's it. Out of my classroom. You're being a disruption."

Leon stood calmly from his chair, the teacher, whose name escaped him shouting in one ear, and Yao shouting in the other. He walked out of the room and into the corridor. What was he even supposed to do now? He definitely got the class's attention.

Across the corridor he saw Yong "You too?" he asked, reverting to Chinese again.

"Yeah; the teacher's stupid. He said that I have to stay out until I stop telling him about the things that originated in Korea."

"So you brought it on yourself?"

"No! Everything did originate in Korea! Anyway, why are you out of class?"

"I made notes in Chinese, because I can't be bothered with English today."

"That's just because you're jetlagged, because you came late! So unlike you, little brother~"

"Shut up, I had business to do."

They continued to converse, as the lesson rolled by. Leon liked moments like this with Yong. His more subdued moments, when the south Korean wasn't so loud and obnoxious. Then again, sometimes it was fun to mess around with him, and be stupid, but he usually had a few drinks before then.

When class finished, Emil joined Leon outside the classroom "You okay?"

Taking a moment to get back to English, Leon nodded "Yeah, I was talking to Yong."

"Isn't he kind of loud and annoying?"

"You get used to him."

Then a girl walked over to them "Hey, I'm Kayleigh." She said, chewing her gum, and giving them both a flirtatious smile.

"Hello, Kayleigh." Leon said, trying to be a little more social than Emil who just said nothing.

"I saw you having that argument with Mister Evans in class and get sent out earlier."

Emil rolled his eyes, muttering to Leon "She's flirting with you."

"Tell me someone who didn't." he said, giving her a mischievous look, before whispering back to Emil "I know."

"Well don't go leading her on."

"I know what I'm doing, Emil."

"Sure you do…"

"Well that's true, I mean it was a really bold move, y'know." She said walking closer to Leon's side.

"I don't like English anyway."

"Neither do I, I wish I was like… Japanese or something, y'know?"

"No."

"So, are you like… Korean? Japanese? Chinese?" she asked.

"I'm from Hong Kong."

"Where's that? It's in China, right?"

"It's an ind- Emil…"

"It's an independent province. So it runs itself, but it's a part of China." Emil said, feeling uncomfortable, but sensing Leon's change in mood.

"Oooh, but like, where is it in China?"

"Look at a map, Kayleigh." Leon said, walking faster, taking Emil's hand in his own.

"Well, I was only trying to be friendly!" she said, storming off in the other direction.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"You okay really?"

"She didn't know where Hong Kong is… it's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Don't lie to me." Emil said, deciding he needed to do something to cheer him up, and deciding that the thing to do would be to hug him. Leon hugged back, gladly. Onlookers stared at them, walking past, but not saying anything.

"I'm just kind of insulted, y'know?" he took a moment to think of a good metaphor "It's like she asked you if you were Swedish, or Nor- from Norway and then thought Iceland was a part of Norway."

"Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed off if someone said that." Emil said, empathising a little "I don't think I've ever seen you so… worked up about something."

"I'm not worked up." Leon squeezed Emil around the waist a little "We could make out…"

"No, not in public…" Emil said, noticing Leon's want to change the subject, and feeling too uncomfortable with pressing the topic any further.

At that moment Yong bounded up beside them "Hey, you guys coming to the party tomorrow night?"

Leon and Emil exchanged a glance "What party?"

"You weren't invited?" Yong asked, curiously. His loud nature had allowed him to mix in with his class much better than Emil and Leon who'd mostly kept themselves to themselves "You're supposed to be _talking _to people!"

Emil sighed inwardly. This was not what he wanted to do. He wasn't a particular social person, and he was fine with that. The only reason he was here was because he was told he didn't have a choice. He didn't really want to talk to people. There was nothing he wanted more than to spend the day at home with his thoughts, knitting sweaters or something similar, yet here he was, listening to Yong and Leon talking in Chinese, feeling clueless and bored.

"I am talking to people."

"Who've you actually spoken to then?"

"The teacher, Emil and a girl just now."

"See! That's like… hardly anyone! You're so boring! You never used to be so boring! Yao says so too. He preferred you before you went and started living with Arthur."

"I know." He said briefly before walking out of the building with Emil and leaving Yong in the corridor.

"What was that about?" Emil asked cautiously.

"Nothing- it was nothing. There's a party tomorrow night, and we should go."

"I don't like parties…"

"It won't be as good as back home, but there are free drinks."

"I don't know…"

"I feel like getting drunk." He said truthfully. He really needed something to break his inhibitions. He felt like any more provocation would set him over the edge, though he preferred not to show it. Arthur had always told him that a gentleman always keeps a stiff upper lip, and shouldn't show emotion, as it is a weakness, and people could manipulate your emotions. Leon noticed however that Arthur never did seem to get the hang of his own teaching.

"You get drunk?"

"Sometimes."

"What does Yao say?"

"I'm an inde- indep…"

"Independent?"

"Yeah, so he can't say anything… most of the time."

"I see. I guess that's fair enough then…." He said, feeling awkward.

The rest of the school day dragged past painfully slowly, Emil could tell that something was bothering Leon, but he wouldn't bring it up. The second Emil tried to ask him what was wrong, Leon would change the subject, or just say he didn't want to English at the time.

**And that concludes another chapter! It's a bit slow moving, yes I know, but there is lots more to come! And as always, I'm giving you another QUESTION TIME!**

**What's bothering Leon?**

**What's going to happen about that party?**

**Will Yong ever learn a little tact?**

**Will Kayleigh ever look at that map?**

**What do you think should happen next?**

**I will reply to ever review that I can! I can't reply to guest ones though ^_^;; But it always makes my day when I get a review!**


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